Superman: Saving Grace
by Dom's Dynamic Duo
Summary: Clark Kent has been Superman for two years, and not much has happened. But when a new player enters the game, he's forced to question what it means to be the Superman, as the world is forced to make important decisions about meta-humans as he investigates a mysterious assassin. Part of phase 1 of the D3DCU. Clark/Lois.


**A/N: Hey everyone this is Manny and Dom, aka Dom's Dynamic Duo. This is the Superman story in our new shared universe called the D3DCU. This the Superman story (Written by Manny) connects to the Batman story (Written by Dom) that is posted under this very account. These stories will link and lead to a Justice League fic co-written by us two.**

 **A major warning though is this: we have created our own universe from scratch, that is to say, the origins of some characters** _ **will**_ **change quite dramatically, but mostly we hope to keep the soul and spirit of these characters that we know and love the same. The characterizations of these characters are heavily based on the Animated Universe, but have influences from the comics and the DCEU. Enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: We do not own any of the characters represented here unless said otherwise, they belong to DC.**

 **|{~}|**

 _I could hear a voice amid the darkness that surrounded me. It belonged to my father, not Joseph Kent, but my true father, my blood. Jor-El. The scientist. The noble. The Kryptonian. The Leader of the House of El. He spoke the words that I had repeated in my head over a million times._

"When you were born, your mother and I knew that our final days were upon us. Krypton, our home, had been suffering from political and environmental turmoil for years and we knew that both had reached their breaking points. However, among the horrible times that surrounded us, you were the light in our lives. You were the only thing that made life worth living and in order for you to live and frankly for a part of us to live on, we decided to secretly ship you off to a foreign land where you could thrive. Your mother and I do not entirely know what great power the atmosphere and the sun of this distant planet will grant you, but we are certain that you will inspire the people Earth and most importantly give them the essential hope that Kryptonians never had. Hope is the only thing that the House of El must stand for. You must always remember, my son, that you are, at your core being Kal-El of Krypton and most importantly that your parents will always love you. Goodbye, my dearest son."

 _My lost father's voice faded into the distance, echoing throughout every nerve in my body. At that moment, my vision became clearer and I found himself lying in the dirt. Standing up, I gently ruffled through the stalks of corn that surrounded me as I tried to find a clearing or any indication of where exactly I was. Seeing nothing but the burning yellow sun above me and what seemed to be an endless cornfield, I lifted myself up into midair. Concentrating, I managed to glide through the air until I could see a dirt road on my right. I ripped through the sky and felt the wind washing over my face. Flying really was an incredible feeling that never got old._

 _I touched down on the dry dirt path that seemed a little too familiar. I then focused his eyes on the horizon and enhanced my vision which allowed me to make out the letters on the billboard that was miles away from where I stood. The billboard read, "Welcome to SMALLVILLE, KANSAS: pop. 45,000" Reading this, I ran as fast as I could and found myself standing in front of the welcome sign in a matter of seconds._

 _Then, out of nowhere, a faded, light blue Chevy pick-up truck came charging down the road. Instinctively, I dodged the truck which unfortunately sent me tumbling through a grassy field and into an enormous stack of hay. I really couldn't believe how clumsy I actually was. I mean I've had superpowers (as I like to call them) for my entire life and I still somehow manage to find new ways to get myself covered in hay and mud. As I picked myself up, I noticed that strangely enough night had fallen and the only thing illuminating the countryside before me was the moon._

 _I made my way through the darkness trying to find the narrow dirt road with mud squishing and squashing in my sneakers. It was then that I heard a noise so loud that it made me think that the heavens had cracked open. I looked up to see a fiery silver pod racing across the starry sky. I curiously flew after it until I figured out what was unfolding right in front of my eyes._

 _The Kryptonian crest on the crashing silver pod. The corn fields. My hometown. The blue Chevy. I was witnessing the night that I had landed on Earth and most importantly the night that the Kent family adopted me and gave me my Earth name, Clark._

 _Once I connected the dots, everything around me disappeared and I was surrounded in darkness once again. My mind was then flooded with memories of my childhood in Smallville. I remembered the words that my Pa had told me such a long time ago, "Clark, I know you just wanna do the right thing, but you have to realize that the world isn't ready for you just yet"._

 _After reminiscing on the words of my Earth father, everything around me became clear and I was now sitting in the back of a modern-looking bus moving across the bustling city of Metropolis. I looked around the vehicle only to find a younger version of myself eagerly looking out the window into the bright lights of the big city. Feeling a bit lightheaded from what I was seeing right in front of me, I decided to get off the bus. "_ I must be going crazy or could this all be a dream" _, I thought to myself as I walked on the empty sidewalk._

 _Flowing along with the wind on the side of the filthy road was a familiar but fairly old newspaper. The headline said, "SUPERMAN SAVES METROPOLIS!" I thought back to when this paper was published and Lois named my heroic persona, Superman, for the first time. I remembered how the world was in awe at my power, but I also remembered how controversial and threatening I was in the public eye. The newspaper then faded away from my hands which was followed by a sudden wave of fatigue._

" _Charge!" screamed a crowd of people from behind me. The crowd ran at full speed towards me with a look of rage in their eyes. This crowd of people was mostly made up of those who I or "Superman" had put to justice in the last two years. They tackled me as I powerlessly fell to the shaking ground under my feet. I felt myself sinking into the ground helplessly as I struggled to catch a breath. Then, right before everything went dark, I had vision of a faceless humanoid creature in a maroon cloak hissing as it walked on the surface of a fiery planet. Through all of this, I kept thinking_ "It's just a dream, it's just a dream."

It was then that my eyes shot open and I found himself lying on my bed with a bead of sweat rolling down my forehead. Once I caught my breath and realized that it actually was just a dream, I turned over to look at my alarm clock which was flashing 7:30 AM.

The sun peered through the paper-thin curtain that hung in Clark's admittedly small room. Lying in his bed which felt more like a cot, Clark pondered the nightmare that had made its way into his sleep, one in a series of many these days. Realizing the time that was flashing on his alarm clock, he made an attempt to climb out of bed, feeling as though every motion he took made him more and more exhausted. Nevertheless, Clark managed to get up and get ready for his day. As he went along with his daily routine, he noticed his phone buzzing on the counter.

The message that stood out on the lock screen was from one of his only friends in Metropolis and his new roommate, Jimmy Olsen. It read: _Hey! I was woken up by a phone call from Lois who wanted me at the office early (you know how she can get sometimes). Anyway, see you at the office and btw I left some coffee in the pot for ya._

Reading this, Clark poured the measly few drops of coffee that were left into his Metropolis Meteors mug and made his way down stairs.

Once he acknowledged the door man of his building, he was only a train ride and a few blocks away from the building that manufacturers what is considered by many the most trusted newspaper in the nation. As Clark walked from Union Station to the Daily Planet Building, he recalled his first day in the big city.

He remembered how excited yet nervous he was. Raised as a polite farm boy from Kansas, moving to Metropolis was a little more than just a culture shock. He had to get used to the cramped lifestyle of the urban landscape and most of all he had to learn how to interact with the different personalities that he encountered. However, the two years that he had spent in Metropolis did not take the decent man that the Kent's had raised out of his heart.

Soon, he arrived at the shining building that bore the golden globe of the Daily Planet. He squeezed through the closing elevator doors to find a disgruntled maintenance man and a green-eyed, beautiful young woman.

"Good Morning", Clark said nodding his head.

Both the woman and the maintenance man gave an apathetic and slightly annoyed nod in response. Clark stepped out of the elevator on the same floor as the woman who seemed a bit surprised to see the noisy and chaotic writer's room.

"Excuse me", the same young woman said as she tapped on Clark's shoulder, "Do you happen to know where Perry White's office is?"

"Yeah, just go straight ahead and down the hall to the right. Then, knock on the first door that says, Editor-in-Chief." Clark responded.

"Oh and by the way my name's Clark. Nice to meet yo-" He said to the woman who had already went on her way, completely ignoring the reporter's nervous attempt at introducing himself.

Clark sighed and made his way to his fairly organized desk that was unfortunately situated in the middle of the office. He was promptly stopped by Jimmy who was juggling everyone's coffee orders. Clark helped him pass out each employee's individual coffee cups, but the only one that had to cause problems was of course sports journalist and part-time office bully, Steve Lombard.

"I told that intern not to put sugar in it. Where is that boy?!" Steve shouted highlighting his frustrating superiority complex.

Clark stopped Steve before he could move and said, "Hey, forget the kid. I'll get you another coffee without sugar, alright?"

Once he fetched the brute's coffee, Clark finally sat down at his desk, but his thought was interpreted once he overheard Lois Lane yelling at Perry in his office.

"Chief, this is an important story that the people of this city need to hear. How are you going to have me standing in a crowd of people listening to Luthor give a speech when there are black market weapons pouring into the harbor every night?!" The Pulitzer Prize winning reporter said.

"Lois, how do you think I got to where I am today? Do you think that you've seen the things that I have? You don't know what you're doing or who you're talking about here. You've been rebellious before but this is too far. You can't do it, not yet at least and that's the end of it." Perry responded.

The chief started again as Lois's disappointed face stared at the wall, "Now you're going to go with Jimmy to the unveiling of the new LexCorp Tower and you're going to write an exceptional cover story. Got it?"

Clark stopped listening and unpacked his bag thinking about what he was going to write about. Shortly, Lois came barging out of Chief's office and approached Jimmy.

"Let's go!" Lois exclaimed as soon as she saw Jimmy's red hair amid the sea of reporters.

"He said no, didn't he?" Jimmy said grabbing his camera.

"You should know that I don't take no for an answer."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

"It means you're going with me to LexCorp and then I'm going to have to leave early because of an emergency at the docks."

"Fine. But did you ever consider asking anybody to help you with the weapons story?"

"Well. Who do suggest, genius?"

"Clark.", Jimmy replied quickly.

"Smallville? Ha! That's a good one, Olsen. Let's just get out of here." Lois said as she grabbed her things and stormed out of the building.

Clark spent most of his morning going through his files of research and backup stories, but nothing motivated him to write. He even watched the news and tried to hear the police radio to see if anyone needed saving or help of any kind, but he came up with nothing.

 **|{~}|**

The crowd that surrounded the stage in front of the new LexCorp Tower was so immense and noisy that roads were closed and Lois had to shout at the top of her lungs just to hear her own voice.

Lois and Jimmy made their way to some security guards to show them their press passes. They were then escorted to a roped-off section where they could see the stage clearly. The plaza where the crowd stood was overrun by police officers and a private security detail. There were officers on the perimeter, officers directing traffic, and LexCorp security surrounding the stage and the press.

Then all of a sudden, a voice could be heard over the speakers. The rowdy crowd that was mostly made up of Luthor supporters now began to quiet down as the voice coming through the speakers became clear.

"Ladies and gentlemen I would like to welcome to the stage, the man of the hour, the CEO of LexCorp, Mr. Alexander "Lex" Luthor." The voice, which now could be identified as a female with an Oriental accent of some kind, announced. Luthor, as dictated by his cue, walked up to the podium that bore his company's logo and adjusted the microphone, tapping it twice.

 **|{~}|**

Just across the City of Tomorrow on the rooftop of the Galaxy Broadcasting Building, a man who was fully armed with a Dragunov SVU sniper rifle positioned himself. Wearing a rust colored bulletproof vest and military pants, the seemingly agitated veteran pushed up the loading handle of the weapon, cocked it back, clicked the magazine of bullets in, pushing the handle forward again.

 **|{~}|**

Standing tall on stage Lex Luthor began to speak in an almost stern but emotive voice

"Good afternoon, citizens of Metropolis. Most of you know me as Lex Luthor. The billionaire. The philanthropist. The businessman. The diplomat. But today I'm here to tell you a bit more than what you can see on the surface. I was raised in the borough of New Troy, right here in this city. My home. I grew up in a broken family that could barely provide meals for their only child.

I have worked and dedicated my life to building the company that you see embodied behind me with the tower that now sits in the heart of my home. Now, I will dedicate myself to you, the citizens of Metropolis. I will build this city up through hard work and I will do everything in my power to make sure that all of its citizens are protected and given equal opportunities. LexCorp Tower which is the epitome of modern..."

 **|{~}|**

With a fully loaded sniper rifle, the man stared at the shining dog tag around his neck and felt the last name on the tag that read, DREW, tracing the letters with his right thumb. Upon conclusion of his reflection, he put his dog tag under the vest and placed the rifle on a small ledge, positioning himself as comfortably as he could.

He took a deep breath and gently moved his eye towards the scope of the sniper rifle. He looked through the scope and saw the Daily Planet Building which stood directly in front of him. He focused on a specific window pane that he had engraved in his mind.

Drew focused further and aimed at Perry White who was sitting at his desk interviewing a young woman. Rage rushed through his entire body as he saw Perry's face. However, he made a point of lowering his heart rate in order to calm himself as he had done many times before. The shaken veteran positioned himself one last time, taking into account the wind speeds and the trajectory of the particular bullets that he was dealing with.

He moved his finger which was now dripping with sweat towards the trigger. Drew took a quick, short breath and pulled the trigger. The sound that the gun produced seemed to be heard by all of Metropolis as the bullet came firing forth.

 **A/N: This is Manny, Dom's editor and co-writer. I would like to welcome you to our new shared universe** **and we really hope everyone can enjoy it. Feel free to leave your thoughts and reviews, and tell us what you'd like to see. I think that's about it, thanks for reading!**


End file.
